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44 | May 24, 2018 | The Lockport Legend Sports lockportlegend.com Girls Soccer Porters drop regional semi in penalty kicks West Aurora mounts comeback to take down LTHS in Lockport Randy Whalen Freelance Reporter Sports are supposed to teach life lessons. The Lockport Township High School girls soccer team experienced one of those lessons last week. The Porters lost a fourgoal lead and eventually fell in penalty kicks 5-4 to West Aurora in the second semifinal matchup of the Class 3A Lockport Regional on May 16 at the Lockport soccer field. With the amazing comeback, the No. 9-seeded Blackhawks (9-6-2) moved on to play Naperville North, which is the top seed in the Plainfield North Sectional. The Huskies defeated Plainfield Central 7-0 on May 15 in the opening semifinal game. Lockport (13-8-1) was bidding to advance to the regional title game on its home field for the second-straight season, but instead, the Porters saw their six-game win streak, all by shutout, end, as they suffered a secondhalf collapse that left them stunned. “Nope, never,” Lockport coach Todd Elkei responded when asked if he’d ever had a team lose a four-goal lead in his 20-plus years as a head coach. “I guess it’s a lesson to the girls to don’t ever give up, to keep working. This just shows our girls that, no matter how bad it gets, keep fighting, because anything can happen. [The Blackhawks] did that and gave us a life lesson.” Lockport’s Madi Davis corrals the ball during a game earlier this season. West Aurora did not give up, especially down the stretch. Lockport led 4-1 at halftime and maintained that lead for the first 20- plus minutes of the second half. Then, a bevy of Blackhawks goals tied it. First, sophomore midfielder Sarai Munoz scored off a corner kick by senior forward Riley O’Brien to make it 4-2 with 19:17 to play in the game. About two minutes later, sophomore midfielder Kiara McPherson tallied to make it 4-3. Three minutes later, McPherson took a restart from O’Brien and converted it. All of a sudden, the score was tied at 4-4 with 14:13 remaining in regulation, as West Aurora scored a trio of goals in a span of 5:04. “We knew they were dangerous on the set pieces,” Elkei said of the Blackhawks. “We wanted to limit the restarts, and we didn’t do that. We had a lot of miscommunication.” West Aurora nearly won in regulation when sophomore forward Audrey Stephens blasted an attempt that hit the crossbar with 2:43 to play. O’Brien had a rebound shot, but senior defender Madi Davis made a nongoalie save for Lockport. In the two 10-minute overtime periods, the Porters had a few more opportunities, but shots by senior forward Ally Fischer and junior forward Jenifer Latoza, along with junior midfielders Finley Travis and Natalie Miller, were saved. In the shootout, the Porters went first and fell behind right away, as sophomore keeper Hannah Gove came up with a critical save. Freshman midfielder Amelia Diaz and senior midfielder Stephanie Quigley scored in the second and third rounds for Lockport, but Gove recorded another save at the left post to open the fourth round. And when senior defenseman Sofia Papoutsis scored with a shot on the right side, Midfielder Stephanie Quigley was one of four seniors on this year’s LTHS girls soccer team. 22nd Century Media File Photos the Blackhawks celebrated the victory. O’Brien, Kiara McPherson and sophomore midfielder Olivia McPherson also scored for West Aurora in the shootout. “We had all of our energy early in the game,” Quigley said. “We felt awesome, I mean everyone on the team thought we had it in the bag, but you can’t think that way. You have to play the whole 80 minutes in soccer. We stopped going for 50/50 balls. All during the season, if the other team scored, we’d put our head down. That’s what we did again.” In 12 of the Porters’ 13 wins, they registered a shutout, most of those behind sophomore keeper Reagan Tompkins. They were also shutout five times in their eight losses. Early on, Lockport sophomore midfielder Grace Galfano scored two goals in just under two minutes for a 2-0 lead. Travis assisted on both, with the second one being a heads-up play. It developed as junior forward Jennifer Latoza started the play on a free kick which found the head of Travis, whose attempt clanged off the left post. The ball, however, ricocheted to Galfano, who scored on the rebound for a 2-0 lead just 6:51 into the game. Quigley converted a penalty kick with 25:15 left in the first half for a 3-0 lead. The Porters made it 4-0 when Fischer arced a corner kick from the right side to the far post. Miller was there to head it in with 21:03 left in the first half, and it appeared everything was going right for Lockport. “That was the best 20 minutes of soccer we’ve had this year,” Elkei said of the first half. “But then, the fouls and giving up set pieces hurt us. We needed to hit a reset button.” Stephens started the Blackhawks comeback on a goal with 5:19 left in the first half. She took a feed from junior defenseman Laeticia Mbende and slid it past Tomkins, off the left post and in for the score. Each team only has four seniors. Davis, Fischer and Quigley all played significant roles as seniors for the Porters. So did Lauren Pikulski, who along with Fischer and Quigley were four-year varsity players. But Pikulski sat on the bench, as she had an allergy attack and wasn’t able to play, since she couldn’t wear her contacts. “I feel bad for the seniors,” Elkei said. “They’ve done so much and had a goal to reach the regional final. All four years, the seniors worked hard to get that team bond, and I’m proud of them for that.” Quigley, one of those seniors, won’t soon forget this season. “This season was my favorite, and I love these girls so much,” she said. “We were closer than ever this year, and I will miss them all.”
lockportlegend.com Sports the Lockport Legend | May 24, 2018 | 45 Boys Tennis Randall leads Porters to fourth straight sectional title Randy Whalen Freelance Reporter Jack Randall is ready for the challenge. The Lockport Township senior will look to capture the Class 2A singles state tennis championship this weekend. Last weekend, he tuned up for that possibility by capturing the title of the Class 2A Joliet West Sectional. That was held on Saturday, May 19, and moved indoors because of earlier rains in the area, to Challenge Fitness in Lockport. With the win in a familiar place, Randall improved to 29-0 on the season and became the first Porter tennis player to win four-straight sectional titles. Lockport has also captured the team title at those sectionals all four years. Now Randall, who placed fifth in Class 2A last year, moves onto the state finals. Those are held this Thursday, May 24, through Saturday, May 26, at various locations with the main one being Hersey High School in Arlington Heights. “I’m really confident,” Randall said of this weekend. “I’m not putting any pressure on myself. No matter what I’ve had a great career. Fernando Meraz won the doubles title at the sectional along with partner Douglas Blomquist. 22nd Century Media File Photos “Winning [sectional] that first year was the easy part since you have a target on your back the next three years. So I’m really proud to be able to do this.” Jack Randall is 29-0 this season and a top contender for the state singles title. No matter what happens, he’s left his mark on the Lockport program. “Jack was fifth last year and hasn’t lost this season,” Lockport coach Bob Champlin said. “He is really excited about this weekend. He’s played a lot of the guys who finished ahead of him last year. His style is counterpunching and he’s very aggressive. It takes the power pace from the opponent. He can play the whole court and come to the net and he mixes it up very well.” That showed in the sectional where Randall won 48 of a possible 53 games. He toppled Oswego freshman Gabriel Sardo 6-1, 6-2 Please see TENNIS, 41 Oak Prairie students test their talents at state track meet Submitted by Will County School District 92 A number of students from Oak Prairie qualified for the state track and field meet that was held last weekend. Qualifiers were: sixthgrader Jaden Roat, 400 meter, 100 meter hurdles and 800 meter relay; sixthgrader Heather Canny, 800 meter; seventh-grader Alivia Czaplicki, 100 meter and 800 and 1,600 meter relays; seventh-grader Abby Budz, 400 meter and 800 and 1,600 meter relays; seventh-grader Marissa Massaro, 800 and 1,600 meter relays; seventh-grader Chloe O’Connor, 800 and 1,600 meter relays; seventh-grader Cedar Groenwoldt, 800 and 1,600 meter relays; seventhgrader Elijah Beltran, 1,600 meter relay; seventh-grader Ryan Bentivenga, 1,600 meter relay; seventh-grader Jake Suchorabski, 1,600 meter relay; seventh-grader Rocco Biamonte, 1,600 meter relay; eighth-grader Francesca Frieri, 400 meter and 800 and 1,600 meter relays; eighth-grader Sammie Weisner, 1,600 meter and 800 and 1,600 meter relays; eighth-grader Lexie Fontaine, 800 and 1,600 meter relays; eighth-grader Kailyn Mitchell, 1,600 meter relay; eighth-grader Emma Schmutzler, discus; eighthgrader Isabella Bozen, discus; and eighth-grader Gabe Czako, 110 meter hurdles.
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